Tonight’s video round-up features the Great Spirit Bluff cam and the birds of the Flyway! Michelle eats a little breakfeather, Newman copulates on the fly, American White Pelicans raft on ice, and bald eagles skate – or at least stand side by side on the ice. We hope you enjoy these videos as much as we did! I know that I’m having a hard time deciding what to watch right now!
Great Spirit Bluff Falcons
3/18/19: Michelle’s first breakfast – https://youtu.be/5lXljzLKMJ0. Newman brings a male Red-winged Blackbird into the box. He barely has time to bow and chup before Michelle takes it and flies out of the box with it at about 20 seconds. The vocals are a great example of chupping – ‘sweet-talking’ between mates, adults and children, or courting falcons!
3/15/19: Amazing How Falcons Copulate On The Fly – https://youtu.be/t4xKY6FIVpw. Michelle wails and bows to signal receptivity, and Newman comes in for an acrobatic copulation. I can’t help but compare this to some of our eagle nests. Newman knows this is his mate and they have gone through the bowing phase of courtship that tells a male falcon he is welcome. Still, we have never seen ‘shy’ males or female dominance in falcons despite years of watching them. A very interesting difference between the two species!
Flyway Cam
3/19/19: Pair of skaters on the Mississippi Flyway cam – https://youtu.be/Cgi-ZsbdUNg. Eagles on ice! An adult and juvenile (I think) perch side by side on the ice. Why juvenile instead of sub-adult given the white feathers? The beak is still very dark, head and back are still very brown, and the tailfeathers are quite long! There isn’t much skating (although the take off at 3:02 is pretty cool!), but I liked seeing both eagles and their reflections on the ice!
3/18/19: Getting busy white pelicans are back – https://youtu.be/MrNGAzPnSb4. The video opens with eagles, so go to 22:19 to see pelicans, Canada geese, and ducks. Check 22:56 and you’ll see the pelicans ice raft break away and start to float downstream. Look for some great close-ups at 25:25!